Sunday, July 27, 2014

Obituaries (July 27)

The funeral of Frank J. VanCott, prominent Unadilla [Otsego Co., NY] business man, was held at the Unadilla Methodist Church on Saturday afternoon.  The Rev. Clayton Hoag, pastor of the church, conducted the services assisted by the Rev. S.B. Hunt, retired Methodist minister.  Burial was in Evergreen Hill Cemetery at Unadilla.  Mr. VanCott died Wednesday morning in the Binghamton City Hospital of enlargement of the heart and complications.  He had been in ill health for two months.  Frank J. Van Cott was born Oct. 25, 1874, at Guilford [Chenango Co. NY], only son of Mr. and Mrs. John Van Cott.  When a lad he moved with his parents to Wellsbridge [Otsego Co., NY] where his boyhood was spent.  In 1892 he became associated in business with his father in a feed store at Unadilla.  He has been in business in Unadilla for nearly 52 years.  He was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Brooks, of Wellsbridge, Feb. 3, 1897.  The VanCott business expanded and the feed part of the business was sold years ago and the VanCott firm turned to specialization in lumber and wood working.  Mr. VanCott was an excellent buyer of timber and also had sound business judgments.  He was president of the Unadilla Silo Company and chairman of the executive committee of J.W. VanCott & Son, lumber dealers.  He also organized silo companies in Beaumont, Texas, and Des Moines, Iowa.  Mr. VanCott was interested in civic activities in Unadilla and was a leader in advocating village improvements.  He was president of the Evergreen Hill Cemetery Association and a trustee of the Unadilla Methodist Church.  He is survived by his wife; a daughter, Mrs. Leona Hunt; a son, Leon J. VanCott, and seven grandchildren.  [Bainbridge News & Republican, Aug. 17, 1944]
 
Philip S. Whitney died Aug. 3 in Binghamton hospital after an illness of four weeks.  Funeral was held Tuesday at 2:00 in the Methodist Church at Otego, with the Rev. W.H. Alger officiating.  Burial was in Evergreen Cemetery at Otego [Otsego Co., NY].  Mr. Whitney, who before going to Binghamton hospital, had lived with his son, Harold, in Hamden, was born in Sidney [Delaware Co., NY] 79 years ago, the son of Walter O. and Elmira I. (Carley) Whitney. A butcher and farmer, he had lived in Otego and Unadilla and was a member of the Baptist Church.  Surviving besides the son, Harold, is another son, Pvt. Walter Whitney, of Camp Hulen, Texas; a daughter, Mrs. Hazel MacGillivany, of South New Berlin; a brother, Harry Whitney, of Bainbridge; four sisters, Mrs. William Campbell, Mrs. Mae Ledden and Miss Vira Whitney, of Rochester, and Mrs. Lois Staples, of Elmira; five grandchildren and one great grandchild.  [Bainbridge News & Republican, Aug. 17, 1944]
 
Death of Mrs. Rossman Bush:  On Thursday afternoon of last week, Mrs. Rossman Bush, who has long been a sufferer, died at her home near Union Valley [Bainbridge, Chenango Co., NY].  The fact that her death was not sudden, relieved in a great measure the sorrow which naturally would fall to the lot of her husband, who is left to mourn the loss of a kind and affectionate wife.  Her funeral took place from the M.E. Church at Union valley, at which she has for years been a regular attendant.  She was buried in the West Bainbridge cemetery.  [Bainbridge Republican, May 13, 1876]
 
A man by the name of David Bond, in the employ of the D.&H.C. Company, was struck by the engine of the freight and passenger train which passes through this place [Afton, Chenango Co., NY] in the morning, and fatally injured.  Bond was one of a gang at work on the track, and while the rest of the men moved clear of the rails, he miscalculated the approach of the train.  He was standing outside the track, bending over, and was in the act of drawing a spike when the front of the engine struck him.  He was thrown into the ditch along side the track, and survived in a state of unconsciousness for about an hour.  His body was taken to this home, half a mile distant.  The deceased was about fifty years of age, and was at one time in the employ of the Erie Railway at or near Binghamton.  [Bainbridge Republican, June 3, 1876]
 
RUSSELL:  In Ava, Jackson Co., Id., Jan. 22d, 1876, Mrs. Alexina Goodman, aged 25 years.  Deceased was known in Bennettsville [Chenango Co., NY], where she formerly resided, as Miss "Lacky" Goodman.  [Bainbridge Republican, March 4, 1876]
 
At Sidney Plains, N.Y. [Delaware Co.], April 22d, Charles Skinner Bradford, aged 35 years.  He was educated at the Delaware Literary Institute, in Franklin, N.Y., entered the 144th Regiment N.Y.S. Volunteers at its organization as Orderly Sergeant, was promoted for good conduct to be first Lieutenant, was a long time its acting Quarter Master; with it he was mustered out of service on the return of peace, with a record unsullied and personal popularity unsurpassed.  He returned to Sidney Plains, was appointed postmaster, entered mercantile business and exhibited the same traits of character which had marked him in the arm--order, punctuality and integrity.  He was the friend and counselor of all. Old and young, high and low came to him for advice and encouragement.  A lineal descendant of the Rev. William Johnston, who settled at Sidney in 1772, he possessed and developed the more lovable traits of character of that sturdy divine--energy, courage and an unyielding adherence to the right.  He was a gentleman by instinct, a Christian from conviction and practice.  He will be sorely missed by the community, by the Church and by the Sunday School, and in the family circle.  His life was an open epistle, known and read by all men.  In the village of his birth he lived and died, leaving not an enmity or a heart burning.  Well may his survivors take up the lamentation of the ancient prophet, "How is the strong staff broken and the beautiful rod."  His funeral took place on Tuesday, and was one of the largest and most impressive gathering Sidney has ever witnessed.  [Bainbridge News & Republican, Apr. 29, 1879]

No comments:

Post a Comment